Heat Treatment on Magnesium

Aluminum Zinc Alloy AZ91D

Jason Rann, SMARTER participant
Composite Materials and Mechanics Laboratory,
Polytechnic Institute at New York University
Program Advisor: Dr. Vikram Kapila
Research Mentor: Dr. Nikhil Gupta
In Collaboration with: Vasanth C Shunmugasamy

Overview
Introduction to Composites and AZ91D
Practical applications of Magnesium alloys and
impetus for further exploration
Experimental Tools
Experimental procedure
Results
Conclusion

Composite Materials
A composite material is a material comprised of
more than one element, wherein they retain their
physical and chemical identity.
o Ex. Plywood, chocolate chip cookie

Alloy is the specific term classifying metal composite

materials
o Ex. AZ91D

Composite Materials Lab

Studying Forged Alloys

Creating your own

composites

Alloy Material Examples

Steel

Precision Machined Products Association

Magnesium Alloy

The metallurgys blog for beginners

Why study Magnesium

Alloy?
Magnesium is one of the most abundant elements
on Earth.
Harvested from the crust of the Earth and seawater.
20% as dense as steel
High workability

Automotive
application of
Magnesium

Mark White, Jaguar, U.K.

Military application of Magnesium

Alloy
Drive train on Boeing
engine for Apache attack
helicopter

Gear Box on General Electric F110

engine for F-16 fighter jet.

Bruce Gwynne, Paul Lyon, Magnesium Elektron

Experimental Tools
Optical Microscope
o Nikon Epiphot 200

Scanning Electron
Microscope
o Hitatchi S-3400N

Vickers Hardness Tester

o Future-Tech Microhardness
Tester FM

Experimental Procedure
Metallurgical sample preparation: Embedded all
specimens in a polymer to aid handling
o Steel, Aluminum, AZ91D control, AZ91D T4 treated, AZ91D T6 treated.

1. Polished all specimens with a grit of 6 micron

2. Performed T4 and T6 heat treatment on select
specimens of AZ91D
3. Performed Optical microscopy
4. Performed Electron microscopy
5. Calculated Vickers Hardness Value

T4 and T6 treatments
T4 treatment heats the specimen to a temperature
based on the phase diagram for a period of 16-24
hours.
T6 heats the specimen to an aging temperature for
16 to 24 hours. (Pre-requisite: T4 treatment).

Magnesium-Aluminum Alloy
Phase Diagram

Magnesium.com

Results Control specimens

Steel

Results - Control Specimens

Aluminum

Results Control Specimens

AZ91D

Results Evolution of AZ91D

through Optical Microscopy
T4 Treatment

T6 Treatment

Results Evolution of AZ91D

through Electron Microscopy
AZ91D control

Results Evolution of AZ91D

through Electron Microscopy
T4 Treatment

Results Evolution of AZ91D

through Electron Microscopy
T6 Treatment

Results Evolution of AZ91D

through Electron Microscopy
T6 Treatment

Vickers Hardness

Vickers Hardness

Vickers Hardness Data

SPECIMEN

Steel

Aluminum

AZ91 Control

AZ91 T4 treated

AZ91 T6 treated

Test Load

Sample Size Matrix

Hardness Matrix

Standard
Matrix

Deviation

Dwell Time

Sample Size Precipitate

Hardness Precipitate

Standard
Precipitate

Deviation

1961 mN

18

95.7

9.4

56s

22

100.7

10.9

4903 mN

30

152.3

4.4

56s

-----------------------

------------------------

------------------------

4903 mN

20

62.0

6.7

56s

20

79.6

8.9

4903 mN

20

61.7

9.1

56s

20

70.1

7.8

4903 mN

20

62.0

6.6

56s

20

87.2

12.5

Vickers Hardness Data

SPECIMEN

Steel

Aluminum

AZ91 Control

AZ91 T4 treated

AZ91 T6 treated

Test Load

Sample Size Matrix

Hardness Matrix

Standard
Matrix

Deviation

Dwell Time

Sample Size Precipitate

Hardness Precipitate

Standard
Precipitate

Deviation

1961 mN

18

95.7

9.4

56s

22

100.7

10.9

4903 mN

30

152.3

4.4

56s

-----------------------

------------------------

------------------------

4903 mN

20

62.0

6.7

56s

20

79.6

8.9

4903 mN

20

61.7

9.1

56s

20

70.1

7.8

4903 mN

20

62.0

6.6

56s

20

87.2

12.5

Vickers Hardness Data

SPECIMEN

Steel

Aluminum

AZ91 Control

AZ91 T4 treated

AZ91 T6 treated

Test Load

Sample Size Matrix

Hardness Matrix

Standard
Matrix

Deviation

Dwell Time

Sample Size Precipitate

Hardness Precipitate

Standard
Precipitate

Deviation

1961 mN

18

95.7

9.4

56s

22

100.7

10.9

4903 mN

30

152.3

4.4

56s

-----------------------

------------------------

------------------------

4903 mN

20

62.0

6.7

56s

20

79.6

8.9

4903 mN

20

61.7

9.1

56s

20

70.1

7.8

4903 mN

20

62.0

6.6

56s

20

87.2

12.5

Conclusion
The heat treatment process expedited the natural
rate of precipitate reconfiguration. The strength of
the material INCREASED after the T4 treatment and
DECREASED after the T6 treatment
The decrease in precipitates from control to T4
treated AZ91 as well as the decrease in the
difference between hardness values indicates the
material increase in strength.
The increase in the difference between hardness
values between the T4 specimen and the T6
specimen indicate an decrease in strength

Conclusion Continued
As the AZ91 ages (naturally or through an expedited
heating process) the specimen will first see an
increase in strength until it reaches its maximum
point of strength at an undetermined time after
creation. From that point, instead of plateauing,
the strength will then begin to decrease as the
specimen ages.
Engineers can use this data to tailor a material to
best fit a project.
o Ex. Making a sample weaker to be placed in the crumple zone in an
automobile
o Ex. Making a sample stronger to be used as a load bearing member in a
structure.

Potential for Further

Investigation
The relationship between heat treatment aging rate
and natural aging rate is still unknown
An investigation into the compression strength,
elasticity modulus and tensile strength will yield
more data on the effect of heat treatments.
More applications in the production world
(commercial, industrial, or militaristic)

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Science
Foundation under grant EEC-1132482, "RET Site:
Science and Mechatronics Aided Research for
Teachers with an Entrepreneurship expeRience
(SMARTER)."
I would like to thank my colleagues in the
Composites Materials and Mechanics lab for
helping me in accomplishing the research work.